“Foo…”

Fate exhaled slowly as he held the grip of his blade in his hands. A katana. The blade itself was nothing more than something special to him, a custom crafted weapon gifted to him. It was excellently forged, of course, but his ability, [God Slaying Sword], was the real weapon to be used.

A weapon so strong it could cut down anything in its path.

But there was no point in having such a powerful ability if Fate didn’t know how to use his sword in the first place. He’d been granted a fine control of his sword when he’d reincarnated, but that wasn’t enough. He was still more proficient in hand to hand combat.

There was no one to teach him the sword, though. Kit was much better at magic, and while Fate found the world of mana and casting immensely interesting, he was ultimately more comfortable with using his body to fight. She wouldn’t be able to teach him what he needed.

After a bit of thought, a name did come to mind. John. Despite not having mana, that man was strangely competent in hand-to-hand combat. Could he possibly teach Fate anything? After thinking for a bit, Fate shook his head. He was going to Scholaris. Surely, there’d be someone who could teach him the sword there.

His break done, Fate lifted his sword and began to swing again.

~~~

“I can’t believe it!” Draco growled. “Those fools found a bunch of prisoners in a dungeon?”

He slammed his fist onto the table, grinding his teeth.

What had happened during the mission wasn’t necessarily important to Draco. What was important was that the commoners were receiving attention and gaining popularity. While nobles could enforce law, law was ultimately meaningless if no one felt like supporting it. If those commoners became heroes, they would garner enough support to be able to stand up to him.

The power the nobles lorded over the commoners ultimately came from the commoners themselves.

While a noble could threaten a singular commoner, they were incapable of attacking hundreds of them. To wipe out an entire village would not go unnoticed, and regardless of how influential a noble was, a reason such as “they annoyed me” would not be accepted.

“Those… insignificant ants! No, no, we’re going to have to do something soon…”

Draco stared at the communication orb in his room. He could contact his father, but that was something he couldn’t do unless absolutely necessary. If he showed weakness here, he might not inherit the position of Duke. A unique position belonging to five individuals in the whole country of Solaria, second only to the imperial family.

The position of Duke was something Draco couldn’t afford to lose.

“I’ll show them,” Draco muttered. “They won’t get away with this. They’ll learn what it means to mess with me.”

~~~

John was watching as Prota’s training yielded very few results. Kit, too, seemed to notice that something wasn’t working, because she sighed as she rested her chin on her palm. Her tail mindlessly swished back and forth, occasionally brushing John, who was surprised at how fluffy it was. He was tempted to pet Kit the next time she was in her fox form but had the sense to know that she’d never let him live it down if he did.

“Experience. That’s what those kids need,” Kit muttered.

“Mm… practical experience, right?” John nodded.

Kit scoffed. “Please. How much practical battle experience do you have?”

“It’s all I have,” John said, leaning back. “I’d hope I picked something up after a couple hundred years of fighting for my life.”

“Old farts that live for thousands of years typically do some kind of isolation training for decades on end. It’s what makes them good. And yet… you somehow give off the aura of an amateur.”

“I’ve barely trained,” John shrugged. “It’s too boring. I’ve got better things to do.”

“You’re the first person I’ve met that considers training to be “too boring.” Your skill level could be the difference between life and death, you know,” Kit scolded. “Come on. If you’re really as old as you say, you’re going to tell me that you’ve never tried to hone a skill to perfection? What do you do with all that time?”

Despite her words being critical, her eyes were shining. She was curious.

“Seriously? Look. You go through what I’ve gone through, and you’d also rather do other things than train for decades on end. I’ll keep doing what I do, and you can do… well, whatever you do.”

“You’re not scared of leaving your sister behind?”

“How about you? Do you have family?”

Kit’s tail abruptly stopped moving. She didn’t even bother to point out that John had avoided to question.

“No one that’s important.”

“Fate?”

“...I suppose,” Kit said with a sad smile. “That boy is like a younger brother to me.”

“Despite you being old enough to be his grandma?”

Kit smacked the back of John’s head. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“A lot of things.”

“I can tell,” Kit grumbled.

John rubbed his head as he sat back up.

“Hey. If you ever had to die for Fate, would you?”

“What kind of question is that?” Kit said lightly. Despite her tone, John could tell.

This was a heavy topic for her.

“It’s a question. Just answer it. A yes or no is enough.”

“...yeah,” Kit said quietly. “If it’s that brat… I suppose I’d die for him. He’s-”

“I told you. A yes or a no is good enough,” John said, cutting her off. “I don’t care about why.”

John paused a bit before going on. “You know? A lot of people are afraid of death. But isn’t it worse for the people who are still alive? They’re the ones who feel pain. They’re the ones who are still hurting.”

Kit looked away. “At least he can feel. He’s alive. He can keep going.”

“That’s hilarious,” John scoffed. “Those who die have nothing to worry about. Who care about any of that?”

“Death is the ultimate end,” Kit said, shaking her head. “There’s no greater tragedy than losing one’s life.”

John looked away as well. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

“...maybe so. Is that why you kill so lightly? Are you someone who considers death a mercy?”

“No? I do it because it’s easy. It’s not like I just go around killing people. It’s just usually harder to keep them alive. What, you gonna start bothering me, too?”

“No. It’s just… we Mystics think the same way as you. Lesser beings are like bugs. If we kill one, it’s of no consequence. There are so many of them. And there is no need for us to differentiate them.”

“Hey. That’s not what I- never mind. You don’t seem to think that way.”

Kit remained silent, which was enough of an answer for John.

John nodded and stood up. “Anyways, my point is, try not to die.”

“Do you think I’m going around, looking for people to die to?”

“I’m saying that sacrifice isn’t always as noble as it might seem.”

He walked over to Prota, tapping her on the shoulder to let her know it was time for dinner. Unfortunately for John, she’d been in a deep concentration, and his interruption had caused her to jump in surprise, freezing his hand in the process. There was a moment of panic as the two tried to thaw it out.

Kit watched the comedic scene with sad eyes. She wasn’t sure why she felt sad. There was so much in life to enjoy. So much to discover and do. She was someone who usually enjoyed everything around her.

So why did John’s words bring such a sense of impending doom?

~~~

“Sir, I’d like to raid another dungeon.”

Two weeks later, Fate stood in front of Albert in the familiar office, with the whole party standing behind him. Prota was holding onto John, who was bored, as usual. Danjo appeared to be nervous at having been called so suddenly, but it seemed that he wouldn’t leave, either. Kit was sleeping in a patch of sun on the ground.

“Another dungeon? Then why did you ask for a meeting?”

“Because of Danjo here.”

Fate nodded towards the dwarf, who flinched at being mentioned. He was a bit like Prota in the way he was acting, but their anxieties felt fundamentally different. Prota’s fear felt more directed toward the people themselves, while Danjo’s fear felt more directed towards the act of interacting in general. Danjo was alright with speaking.

“The dwarf? What about him?”

“He’s not registered as an adventurer, but he needs combat experience. I thought we’d take him into one of the easier dungeons and have him take a look around.”

“But he’s not registered as an adventurer. I see.”

“And I don’t think he’ll be able to cut corners the way John did,” Fate nodded.

Albert cast a quick disgusted look at John before continuing.

“I see your point, but why do you want to take him into a dungeon so badly? I thought he was incapable of fighting. You folks are irregular, especially mister manaless over here. Is the dwarf really strong enough to enter a dungeon?”

“Fighting isn’t everything. There are roles to a party,” Fate said. “Danjo, do you have the things?”

Danjo nodded and silently handed over a few sheets of rolled up paper. He seemed nervous in front of the guildmaster, but Albert wasn’t really paying attention to him.

“Hm… I don’t really understand this kind of stuff,” Albert shrugged. “This is usually left to the blacksmiths and alchemists and whatnot. What is it?”

“A few designs Danjo made. They’re all devices he’d be able to operate best.”

“Which is what?”

“Useful gear. This here is a magic trap detector. That there is a sound amplifier, and this is an alarm trigger… sir. Our end goal is to raid the dungeon with the organization we’re after, right?”

“Well, yes.”

“Then this kind of gear will make our progress much easier. We can’t fight unless we reach our enemies alive, and even then, we’ll need to save as much energy as possible. But we need field tests for these devices.”

Albert nodded slowly. “I see your point. I’ll see what I can do about it.”

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However, his facial expression seemed to disagree with his words. John wasn’t going to spend effort trying to figure it out.

“Hey. Old man. If you’ve got something to say, say it.”

Albert sighed. “Seriously, you little… Danjo, was it? Do you mind stepping out for a bit?”

The dwarf nodded and left. It looked like a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders as soon as he stepped out the door. He must’ve felt really pressured.

“Fate. I looked a little into what you told me about those enemies, and it’s been confirmed that the power of souls are indeed being weaponized. I don’t know how John knew about it, but after sending a few messages to the imperial palace, our fears have been confirmed.”

Albert looked at the three people standing in front of him.

“This is extremely confidential information. If this gets out, I’ll know it was one of you three. And I’ll be personally ending your lives before anyone else can if it leaks, so it better not leak, understood?”

They all nodded.

“There are signs of activity from the demon realm.”

John gave a quick look of disgust, while Fate nodded.

“We suspect that demon cultists are performing black magic in order to prepare, which means this group is a lot more than we thought. The research of soul magic is apparently something the imperial family has known about, but only in theory. If it’s being put to test… that can only mean bad things.”

Albert sighed and sat down in his chair.

“I can’t believe this started off as a simple investigation into what we thought was an illegal slave market, but regardless, this is escalating quickly. You three. It might be time to let the higher ups deal with this. We’re dealing with stuff even I don’t know about. I didn’t question it initially, since you seemed to have your own sources, but… this really is dangerous.”

The three paused, but they all knew. None of them were going to give this up.

Fate and John had their own obvious reasons for wanting to continue, but surprisingly, Prota wanted to push forward as well. There wasn’t any particular reason for it. She just understood that continuing would help her get stronger. The memory of the woman named Diaboli was still deeply ingrained into her mind. These people were nothing in comparison.

She couldn’t just let an opportunity slip by like this.

Albert only needed one look to see how the conversation would go and gave up before the argument even started.

“Well, I tried. Look, if you plan on throwing your lives away, I’ll let you know that politicians are too busy being politicians to deal with this. It’ll take at least a few months, maybe up to six, for them to send a team in. You have that long.”

Fate bowed. “Thank you, sir.”

Albert nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Now get on out of here.”

Fate left the room, and John was about to get out as well when Albert stopped him.

“Hey. You.”

“What’s up?”

“Fate was sent by the Elves to provide backup. You, however. You just joined out of nowhere. To be honest, I didn’t expect things to escalate this fast. Slaves into some demonic organisation that harvests souls, it’s a bit too much, even for me. So why are you still here?”

John smirked. “Wow, I didn’t know you cared so much.”

“I can’t have civilian lives on my hands. I need a good reason for you to still be in on this.”

“We’re adventurers, aren’t we? Hey, if we make it through all this, I’ll treat you to a drink or something. Just treat me like hired help. That’s enough, isn’t it?”

“...I don’t like it.”

John shrugged. “So what? Are you going to go with Fate yourself?”

Albert clenched his fists, but there was no reply.

“Fine. I wish you luck.”

Albert sighed one more time as John left the room, Prota following close behind.

“I’m getting too old,” he muttered as he looked at his large, calloused hands.

“They remind you of us back in the day, don’t they?” Bren said with a small smile as he came out of the shadows. “Reckless, brave, and dumb.”

“Yeah,” Albert said as he took a worn down picture out of his desk.

Elfin, Bren and Albert. They were much younger in this picture, grinning ear to ear while Albert held an axe triumphantly over his head.

“The Blood Berserker,” Bren nodded. “What fond days.”

Albert shuddered. “Don’t remind me of that name. I don’t wanna ever hear it again”

He put the picture away and looked up at the ceiling.

“Bren, am I doing the right thing? I feel like I’m just being pushed along. I don’t get what’s going on anymore. Things were so much easier when all we had to do was fight.”

“You’re doing fine, sir,” Bren said. “Really.”

~~~

After such an eventful meeting, nothing else happened. Danjo and Fate trained. John lazed around. Prota continued to be bored.

“Hey, Fate,” John said as they sat down to eat in the cafeteria. Prota was too busy eating to pay attention to the conversation, and Danjo could only watch as Prota was completely absorbed in her food.

“I’ve been meaning to bring this up, but who was that elf girl?”

“What?”

“When we had to leave the haunted armour subjugation quest. That girl. It seemed like you knew her. Who was she?”

Fate sighed and put his fork down.

“Back where I lived, I ran into some, uh, issues. I didn’t think those issues would follow me here, but it looks like they did.”

“Are they something we should be worried about?”

“I don’t think they’ll attack us,” Fate said, shaking his head. “According to Prota, it was just the one girl, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then they probably just sent her to observe.”

“They?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Fate sighed. “We have other things to be concerned about right now.”

John nodded. “Well, as long as they don’t attack us, then I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

He continued to eat as if nothing had happened.

“Seriously, you let things go way too easily. You’re not suspicious? At all?”

“Buddy, it was your life she was after,” John shrugged. “If you say she’s not gonna attack us, then that’s all I care about.”

“You feel like the kind of guy to pry into others' business, though.”

“What makes you say that?”

“It’s pretty obvious, is it not?”

“I never looked into you,” John said, shaking his head. “I just guessed. Really. Use your little truth detector if you want.”

“...really. You don’t care?”

John wiped his mouth with a napkin and shrugged.

“It’s just easier to deal with things as they come. If she doesn’t plan on killing any of us, then why should I care? I’ll deal with it when it becomes a problem.”

Fate just stared. What a strange way of thinking.

“You… have someone hunting you?” Danjo said nervously.

“Well, something like that,” Fate sighed. “It’s… it’s a little complicated. Don’t worry about it, ok?”

John finished his food and put his fork down, then leaned back and stretched, yawning as fatigue started to settle in. He’d been up all night reading again, but Prota had woken him up to go eat, so he was planning on taking a nap later.

Unfortunately, it didn’t look like a nap was going to come any time soon.

“Ah, hello there,” Elfin said as he pulled up a chair. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Hello, sir,” Fate nodded calmly. “Danjo, this is Elfin.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Danjo. I’m terribly sorry about your circumstances.”

Danjo nodded nervously, his mouth sealed shut. Elfin nodded, seeming to understand. He pushed his glasses up and continued.

“Anyways, the boss asked me to deliver some news to you. Your request for a dungeon subjugation has been approved.”

John locked eyes with Fate. This was good, right? Then why did it feel like the bad news was coming?

“The date has been set for a month from now. In the meantime, Danjo will be given a fake ID and adventurer’s card and will blend in. However, since this is a renewable dungeon, you’ll have to go in with a larger group.”

John raised his hand. “Uh… what’s that?”

“Oh, a renewable dungeon? We don’t take the mana cores out of renewable dungeons. We let them regenerate resources and farm them. The monsters in those dungeons tend to be on the weaker side, so they’re perfect for beginners. The core itself somehow stabilizes, so we don’t need to worry about potential issues.”

Fate nodded. “How large of a group? Eight? Ten?”

“Ten,” Elfin nodded. “You four are already occupying spots. The other six will come in due time.”

With that, he got up and left the table.

“I truly wish you the best of luck.”

Elfin left with a smile and a wave. John gave a sigh of relief as the elf left.

“What, you don’t like him?” Fate said cautiously.

“That guy’s so stiff all the time. I just can’t deal with him. He feels like he’d just stare me down if I do anything wrong. So boring.”

Fate’s tension immediately vanished. He’d been nervous that John thought that Elfin was a bad guy, but it turned out that their characteristics were just incompatible.

“Anyways, that gives us a month, right? I suppose we’ll have to get some of Danjo’s gear in working order by then. Danjo, think you can do it?”

“Um… yes, probably,” Danjo said. “There might be a few technical issues, but otherwise…”

“Great.”

John got up, leaving behind a gold coin, but stopped and turned to Fate.

“Oh, yeah. One thing?”

“What’s that?”

“The raid. We might have some unpleasant experiences during the raid.”

“Unpleasant, how?”

“Um… not dangerous, probably. Just… annoying? Actually, I’m not entirely sure. Just be ready.”

Prota got up and gave a little wave before following John out of the cafeteria.

“How?” she said quietly as they walked out the door.

“Well, it’s kinda obvious. If the dungeon raid was really just a dungeon raid, it wouldn’t really be a part of the story. Everything important in a story has to advance the [Plot] in some way or another, right?”

Prota nodded, but she didn’t fully get it. Her understanding was mildly increasing, though. She understood that something was going to happen. She just didn’t understand why.

“Also, I lied.”

“...?”

“The annoyance is probably going to be Draco. That little rat bastard.”

“Draco?”

“He hasn’t really done much, right? Especially after sending those assassins after us.”

Prota nodded slowly. Why did that matter?

“He’ll go and do something eventually. Probably. Just you wait.”